We have seen that the emergence of a new sport can be a new social practice, but it involves a dangerous process involving different elements. We will see that a social practice can ultimately be a good way of consuming the practice.

In this part, we will use a consumer culture journal from Shove and Pantzar (2005). We are going to study the fact that the practices are closely related to consumption. For this, the phenomenon of "Nordic walking", studied by Shove and Pantzar will allow us to analyze the relationship between practices and products and the way in which they evolve. Nordic walking is an outdoor walk carried out using sticks introduced in the 90s. This new practice has attracted many European countries such as Finland, for example, where 20% of the population practice it. This new practice came to the market with the idea of ​​relearning to walk and walk for fun, even if it is more difficult to accept.

As stated previously, to build a social practice one needs skills, materials and meanings. The essential product to participate in this practice is the stick allowing walkers a more holy physical labor. As Michael (2001) puts it “we are more interested in the dynamic relationship between sticks and image and the performance of the practices they support. »(P48), thus, the stick characterizes the materials making the connection with the skills and performances. In addition, Shove and Pantzar (2005) support the idea that, “Nordic walking emerges through the integration of a new skill, image and equipment” (P45), thus the development of this new practice responds to the various elements of the theory of building a new social practice.

This innovation is very interesting and can be linked to the emergence of padel in France thanks to its similarities. Indeed pole hiking is something that has been around for many years, Nordic walking has just brought a new way of walking with a different body purpose. We have seen previously that the padel is a mix of racquet sports similar to many sports. However, this new practice has brought, like Nordic walking, a new way of playing with a racket in a different situation.

Thus, the analysis of this case study is beneficial to the understanding that a new social practice is linked to consumption and how walking, an activity that most of us have done for years, is becoming a new form. of pleasure.

Nordic walking is not feasible if hikers do not have the proper poles for the sport. Thus, suppliers and producers work with the different structures to allow the emergence of this new practice. Nordic walking is not possible without these poles, which is why this new practice and trend is pushing towards consumption. We find this with the padel where a basic tennis racket is not enough to play tennis padel, this requires a special racket exclusively intended for this sport. Thus, products are essential for the emergence of a new market, which is why producers and suppliers are essential players in the creation of a new market, but not only that.

Indeed, communities are a key player in the birth of a new practice in order to bring it to life. According to Shove Pantzar (2005), “The existence of a small, well-served community certainly helps explain how the Nordic walking system builders (Hughes, 1983) have achieved so much in a short period of time. "(P54). So we can notice another similarity with the emergence of the padel in France and the construction of a new social practice thanks to the communities. This similarity is present because the padel has been able to develop little by little and gain a certain popularity in France thanks to small communities wanting to develop this sport and make it known throughout France.

Thus, we can deduce that a practice becoming a social practice promotes the development of a sport and its transmission through different environments, thus increasing its popularity.

Tanguy Le Roux

Student in Master 2 entrepreneurship and innovation at IESEG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT in Paris and passionate about sport, I decided to devote my end-of-study thesis to the emergence of padel in France as a sport and social practice and the associated market development. Having lived 22 years in Morocco and for 5 years in France, I am delighted to be able to share my skills.

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